Clearing the Air: An Analysis of Atmospheric Protections and Pollutant Regulation in the United Kingdom Before, During, and After the EU.

Abstract

Air pollution is a severe issue in the United Kingdom. Legal and scientific efforts to combat the deleterious health effects arising from polluted air are wide-ranging but suffer a lack of enforcement. The issue of enforcement is a central theme within this paper; the most stringent or ambitious limits are meaningless without enforcement. Legal responses to specific pollutants and polluting industries are first explored to establish a narrative of the United Kingdom’s approach to air quality protection throughout the Industrial Revolution. Legal issues and regulatory methods during the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union are then discussed in juxtaposition to domestic historical approaches, acknowledging the United Kingdom’s utilisation of displacement methods and general failures to adhere to European Union law. Beyond 2020, the retention and function of EU-derived and domestic legislation is considered in light of Brexit. The United Kingdom faces – post-Brexit – an opportunity for improvement in its atmospheric quality. However, without the enforcement capabilities of the Court of Justice of the European Union there is a real possibility that atmospheric quality in the United Kingdom will face a severe and dangerous regression – becoming, once again, the “dirty man of Europe”.